Oklahoma Children's Memorial Hospital at the University of Oklahoma is a member institution of the Pediatric Oncology Group. We have pooled our patient resources and scientific expertise to study the natural history of childhood cancer, develop effective therapeutic regimens, and evaluate the toxicity and effectiveness of new anti-cancer agents in the treatment of childhood cancer. The program is also characterized by a number of non-therapeutic protocols that are evaluating tumor biology. The team at the University of Oklahoma is multidisciplinary and includes pediatric hematologists/oncologists, radiation therapists, radiologists, pediatric surgeons, immunologists, and pathologists. All protocols are reviewed by the Institutional Review Board prior to activation and informed consent is obtained on all patients entered into protocols of the Pediatric Oncology Group. The core program in Oklahoma City has a close collaborative relationship with the two-year clinical College of Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the University of Arizona is an affiliate of our program in Oklahoma. Protocol compliance has remained a high priority. Our one-year, short-term and our long-term (1 to 3 years) compliance are 91 and 94%, respectively and both are above the group average. Research interests at the University of Oklahoma include, not only evaluation of tumor biology and therapeutic protocols, but also an evaluation of informed consent. We have completed a six-year evaluation of informed consent, published our findings, and are currently planning a phase II protocol. We serve as a reference laboratory with regard to immune phenotypes of the cells of histocytosis X.